James R. CoplandDirector of Manhattan Institute's Center for Legal Policy

We're proud to have Ted Frank as a Manhattan Institute adjunct fellow and editor of Point of Law, but most of our readers also know that Ted's primary job these days is running the Center for Class Action Fairness, a non-profit entity Ted founded that challenges class action settlements that, in Ted's view, unfairly compensate plaintiffs' counsel at the expense of the class. Scholars at the Manhattan Institute's Center for Legal Policy (CLP) have long worried about abuses of the modern American class action, which have become ubiquitous since Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure was changed in 1966 to treat all potential class members as class litigants unless they affirmatively opted out of litigation.

In 2002, CLP visiting scholar Richard Epstein, now of NYU law school, articulated the merits and pitfalls of class action practice in a Civil Justice Report and concluded that "we cannot make a uniform assessment of the overall effects of class action practices," since they are "benevolent in some cases and harmful in others." In his 2010 book Lawyer Barons, CLP visiting scholar Lester Brickman, of Cardozo Law School, discussed in depth the degree to which class counsel, operating without a true client, can collude with defendant companies to expropriate unjust fees in class action settlements, in many cases negotiating away plaintiffs' legitimate legal rights.

Like Professor Epstein, Ted is not opposed to all class actions, but he's particularly concerned about the fee abuses Professor Brickman highlights. Other legal scholars, however, have defended current class action practice, including fee awards, as essential to deterring corporate misconduct. Foremost among these academics is Brian Fitzpatrick of Vanderbilt Law School, who has argued that class counsel should receive as much as 100% of awards as fees in small stakes cases. Ted and Brian have been sparring about this issue recently in many live forums, and we are happy to welcome Professor Fitzpatrick to Point of Law to debate the issue here, with our editor.